Before High Imperialism: Exploring the trans-imperial nature of British colonial violence in Australia, South Africa and India, 1857-1884

该项目将研究英国殖民暴力的跨帝国性质及其对1857年至1884年形成期在澳大利亚、南非和印度维持殖民统治的重要性。我将探讨尽管地理距离和不同形式的殖民管理的障碍，殖民暴力如何相交并构成一个独特的和可识别的英国性格。这代表了一种雄心勃勃的跨地域方法，考察了跨越帝国空间的思想和实践的流动，并为英国殖民暴力的“纠缠历史”做出了贡献。鉴于有关殖民主义的当代遗产和大英帝国固有暴力的紧迫问题，最近由“黑人的命也是命”运动和爱德华·科尔斯顿雕像的倒塌所突出，这项研究将有助于对英国殖民暴力的本质进行更深入、更有见地的讨论。通过运用一种跨地域的方法来研究英国殖民暴力，本文将探讨是什么将其区分为英国和殖民地，研究跨越遥远距离的思想传播和不同的行政背景，这些都使我的案例研究与众不同。国家在移民殖民地澳大利亚、非移民印度和南非“混合地区”的暴力中的作用将被一起考虑，以探索独特的英国形式的暴力的程度，以及该框架内不同形式的暴力（反叛乱、工业、结构、象征性）。将审查帝国内部知识转移的程度和影响，以及将灭绝种族研究原则应用于移民殖民背景之外的情况。这种“纠缠”的方法，或历史交叉交叉，提供了一种迟来的对位，以历史编纂的重点是偶发暴力。通过在一个跨国的、泛帝国的背景下重铸这场辩论，所产生的接受和学习效应可以得到检验。这个项目将有助于这一新兴的史学，为在全球范围内研究英国殖民暴力奠定基础。1857年至1884年的时间线描绘了在大帝国主义开始之前的一个独特的殖民主义阶段。在1857年印度叛乱之后，暴力成为“殖民国家的创始叙事之一”（瓦格纳，2019）。1884年的柏林会议和对非洲的争夺，在帝国内部竞争的推动下，催生了殖民暴力的新时代。该项目侧重于不同的前期，从1857年叛乱开始。它将档案研究与跨帝国联系和种族灭绝研究的方法相结合。这包括最近的出版物，如迪尔克·沃尔特的《殖民暴力》，米歇尔·戈登的《极端暴力与英国方式》和乔纳斯·克伦鲍姆的《悲惨的惨败》。国家档案馆和大英图书馆的档案收藏，包括法律文件、私人文件和数字化材料，允许访问与我的案例研究有关的主要来源。通过检查每个地点的暴力事件，并将纠结的、跨帝国的和种族灭绝的研究框架应用到我的分析中，这个项目在给定的时间框架内是可以实现的。这个项目的纠缠方法将有助于对大英帝国暴力本质的更深层次的讨论。通过探索英国殖民暴力的独特形式在帝国的地理范围和行政复杂性中的程度，该项目将有助于解决当代问题，即我们应该如何考虑和应对其遗产。在这个内省的时刻，一项针对英国殖民暴力的独特特征的实证研究是及时的。

This project will examine the trans-imperial nature of British colonial violence and its importance to the maintenance of colonial rule in Australia, South Africa and India in the formative period 1857-1884. I will explore how colonial violence intersected and constituted a distinct and recognisably British character, despite the barriers of geographical distance and differing forms of colonial administration. This represents an ambitious trans-territorial approach, examining the flow of ideas and practices across imperial spaces and contributing to an 'entangled history' of British colonial violence. Given the urgent questions concerning the contemporary legacy of colonialism and the inherent violence of the British Empire, recently highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement and toppling of the statue of Edward Colston, this research will contribute to a deeper, more informed discussion on the nature of British colonial violence.By applying a trans-territorial approach to British colonial violence, this thesis will explore what distinguished it as British and colonial, examining transmission of ideas across the huge distances and differing administrative contexts that differentiate my case studies. The role of the state in violence in settler colonial Australia, non-settler India and the 'hybrid region' of South Africa will be considered together to explore the extent of a distinctively British form of violence, alongside different forms (counter-insurgency, industrial, structural, symbolic) within that framework. The extent and impact of intra-imperial knowledge transfers will be examined, alongside the application of the principles of genocide studies beyond the settler colonial context. This 'entangled' approach, or histoire croisée, offers an overdue counterpoint to historiographical focus on episodic violence. By recasting the debate in a transnational, pan-imperial context, the reception and learning effects produced can be examined. This project will contribute towards this emerging historiography, laying the foundations for additional scholarship on British colonial violence in its global setting.The timeline 1857-1884 delineates a distinct phase of colonialism prior to the onset of High Imperialism. Following the 1857 Indian Rebellion, violence became 'one of the founding narratives of the colonial state' (Wagner, 2019). The 1884 Berlin Conference and Scramble for Africa catalysed a new era of colonial violence driven by inter-imperial competition. This project focuses on the distinct preceding period, beginning with the 1857 Rebellion. It combines archival research with the methodologies of trans-imperial connection and genocide studies. This includes recent publications such as Dierk Walter's Colonial Violence, Michelle Gordon's Extreme Violence and the British Way and Jonas Kreienbaum's Sad Fiasco. Identified archival collections at The National Archives and British Library, including legal documents, private papers and digitised materials, allow access to primary sources pertaining to my case studies. By examining incidences of violence in each location and applying entangled, trans-imperial and genocide studies frameworks to my analysis, the project is achievable in the given time-frame.This project's entangled approach will contribute to a deeper discussion on the nature of violence in the British Empire. By exploring the extent of a distinctive form of British colonial violence across the geographical expanse and administrative complexity of the Empire, this project will contribute to contemporary questions around how we should consider and react to its legacy. In this introspective moment, an empirical study addressing the distinct character of British colonial violence is timely.